BANISTER PARK, who went 17 years without taking the Southampton and District BA Championship, have now won it two seasons in a row.

The crunch match for the Eastleigh club came in their penultimate fixture when they faced leaders Sports Centre. Banister Park took that clash 6-2 to dislodge their opponents at the head of the table by 1.5 points.

That meant they needed seven points from their final outing to make certain of retaining the title, which they had collected last summer for the first time since 1981, and they did exactly that with a 7-1 thrashing of Pirelli General.

In the event they did more than enough as Sports Centre could only draw 4-4 at Eastleigh Railway.

Banister Park, whose team captain is Steve Whitehead, fielded a side very similar to last year, their skips being Whitehead, Danny McEwan, Steve Rice, Barry Bendall and Geoff Earle.

Earle was the new face among the skips. He began the campaign as number three to Whitehead but stepped up to skip midway through the season and fully justified his place with a string of fine performances.

Sports Centre also missed out in the RJ Temple County Club Championship final. Trailing by some 12 shots after the match was temporarily halted by rain the week before, they could not make up the deficit when the action against Civil Service Portsmouth resumed at Banister Park.

Peter Ward scored a cracking 28-8 victory for Sports Centre over Dave Biggs but Civil Service took the other three contests to lift the trophy 82-70. Dorian Bishop tanned Roy Alford's foursome 27-8 and Colin Hayward overcame Iain Bunday 23-11 but the other rink was much tighter with Keith Warren holding on for a 24-23 success despite a gallant comeback by Mick Slade who trailed 24-12 with four ends remaining.

SOUTHAMPTON AND DISTRICT BA Championship - Div 1: Atherley 92 (6) Woolston 76 (1), Lockswood 81 (1) Fleming Park 83 (7), Eastleigh Rail 65 (4) Sports Centre 65 (4), Pirelli General 60 (1) Banister Park 88 (7). Div 2: BTC 77 (1) Old Green 91 (7), Brockenhurst 93 (6) County 76 (2), Esso 75 (7) Aerostructures 73 (1), Winchester C 91 (8) Mayfield Park 61 (0). Div 3: Civil Service 64 (1) Meon Valley 66 (6), Friary 60 (1) Pirrie Park 95 (7), Hants Police 59 (1) Littleton 74 (6), Hedge End 95 (6) Bitterne 73 (1), Hyde Abbey 78 (6) Romsey 77 (2). Combination - Div 1: Atherley II 55 (2) Sports Centre 60 (4), Esso 48 (0) Woolston 61 (6), Fleming Park 54 (4) Atherley I 50 (2), Old Green 58 (1) Banister Park 66 (5). Div 2: Eastleigh Rail II 53 (5) Aerostructures 46 (1), Woolston 59 (1) Fleming Park 61 (5). Div 3: BTC 56 (2) Banister Park 64 (4). Div 4: Mayfield Park 44 (0) Esso 76 (6). Div 5: Atherley 55 (2) BTC 57 (4), Bitterne 50 (1) Woolston 59 (5), Lockswood 88 (6) Moorgreen 39 (0). Div 6: Police Club 51 (1) Old Green 61 (5). Div 7: County 70 (5) Fleming Park 44 (1).

Other matches rained off.

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